Make Up Break Up is a cute read. The story is about two competing CEO's of completely opposite tech start up companies and their evolving relationship. Annika is a believer in love and her company is all about getting people together while Hudson is the head of a company which breaks up with significant others for their clients. The attraction between the two characters is undeniable but I felt that some of their interactions were shallow. I would love for them to have spent more time together and to have read more about their thoughts and developing feelings. Despite this, I did like the characters overall and would definitely read a spin off about June and Ziggy if there were one.

I like the way the story is written. It is intelligent and interesting. The love interest's relationships were well written and not sappy as they can be in some rom com books. Annika is a smart character, and I liked reading about the business she was creating and some of her trials and successes with her business. I also liked the relationship with her father and her pluck toward the end of the book.

Overall I would recommend this book for someone who wants an easier rom com read.

* I received an eARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Make Up Break Up is a contemporary, diverse, enemies to lovers romcom.

This had some really cute moments (mariachi band!) but the main characters spent a lot of time doing mean things to each other. I'm all for the snarky banter or even some light pranks but doing things like deliberately sabotaging a presentation when you supposedly care about someone is just cruel. So I had a difficult time cheering them on as a couple.

I cheered harder for Ani's best friend June and Hudson's coworker Ziggy.

No spoilers but the ending felt really contrived.

I LOVED THIS BOOK!!! One the best romcoms I’ve read in awhile. This is just what I have been looking for!! I was laughing, tearing up, shaking my head, etc. ALL OF THE EMOTIONS!! The angst and chemistry between the two main characters was on fire. Phew! I was so sad when I flipped the last page, I wanted more! Everyone this is a must read!!

Thank you Netgalley for this auto approval for librarians!

If I'm being honest, I thought this one was just average. I love Lily Menon and was really looking forward to her first adult romance, because I have adored every YA she's ever put out. But...I think this one lacked the mature tone she was going for and the leads lacked chemistry. I wasn't a fan of a last act crisis that happened, because it felt like the characters could have reached their emotional conclusions without it and it felt unnecessary. There were really cute moments and I think it was really worth a read, but perhaps not an all time favorite romance. Regardless, I'm looking forward to Menon's future novels and she's always an author I'll pick up.

4.5 stars

*I was provided an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

I was so excited to pick up this book. I have enjoyed Menon's YA work and was looking forward to an adult romance since they are my new love. I really enjoyed the story and the characters. I think there was tension between them that was well done. Hudson gives me Christian Grey vibes in the CEO sense, but he also has boyish, fun vibes.

I do wish that the ending was a little more extended. I think an additional chapter or an epilogue would have worked really well. The resolution was happening in the final chapter, so I wish it was just a chapter or two longer for some more wrap up. For this reason, I bumped it down a half star.

I'm hoping we can have a book that follows June's story, even a novella to see how her story is going.

I'm very excited to see what Lily Menon does next.

I had a hard time visualizing the characters and development. There were two grammatical errors within the middle of the book. The plot itself seemed very predictable and a little hallmarky.

I wanted to love this book. And I almost succeeded.
Annika & Hudson are a case of lovers to enemies to lovers, having met in Vegas and having a fling previously. The enemies portion was most definitely that. Each character was out to get the other, with very little remorse in respect to their actions.
When we got to the lovers portion, they had already been so rotten to one another that it was hard for me to reconcile that this was the relationship they needed to be in.
I didn’t particularly have any warm fuzzy feelings for either MC, and it was a bit difficult to connect with them.

"Make Up Break Up," by Lily Menon, is all about the love/hate relationship between Hudson and Annika. These two have past history and sparks start flying when they meet up a year later as business rivals. I enjoyed the chemistry between the two of them, and I always like books that follow the "enemies to lovers" trope. This was a really cute book and I really enjoyed it!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

*My typical caveat that the opinions expressed above about purchase are based on my running a high school library.

Hmmm...this book. Well, while it was fairly predictable and I resisted the temptation to be sucked into its tropes, I did find myself rooting for Ani and Hudson in the end. If only because I preferred that to the business side of the story. Actually, truth be told, the story I was really rooting for was June and Ziggy. They are both way more compelling characters than either of the MCs. And Ani’s dad. He is, at least, very true to life. Him I enjoyed. I guess I just didn’t really feel much for Ani ultimately. I found her sort of meh. Which is weird, as I don’t remember ever feeling that about Menon’s YA characters. Sigh.

I have mixed feelings here because on one hand, I really enjoyed the premise and the idea of it! But I had a bit of a hard time connecting, and I think it might be the writing style and the lack of a strong enough emotional connection with the main character. She's clearly a hard worker, running her own business, and the stakes are quite high, but I needed more from her. I wanted a stronger delve into her past and her time spent with the love interest, because when we meet him, i didn't quite feel that tension.

That being said, I truly think this book will do well, and I think I might even enjoy it more on audio.

I do intend to return to give this a reread though!

*𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸

I thought it looked so adorable and normally I love rivals-to-lovers, no matter how cheesy they are. This one lacked for me.
My biggest problem with it overall was the main character Annika. She was judgmental and although she did grow and learn by the time the book ended, and I appreciated it, It was too late in the book for me to warm up to her unfortunately.
Hudson wasn't a bad character either, although I felt like he was very two dimensional and I couldn't connect to his character.
The romance also didn't really have that much essence or growth whatsoever, and I didn't really feel anything for them as the story progressed.
I did liked the secondary characters and their relationships.
Overall, I liked some parts and I feel like this could've been much better, there were just way too many things that bothered me for me to end up fully enjoying it unfortunately.

This was an adorable rom-com. I loved the start-up world setting (I know a lot of people who work in tech) and the idea of two opposing apps. The ideas for both are actually brilliant and it would be so cool if something like Make Up actually existed. I appreciated the fact that Ani and June were both incredibly capable, competent women whose focus on work didn't take away from their existence as whole characters. Hudson was fun to read about, but I wish we'd gotten to his layers earlier in the book. There was enough emotional heft to get me really invested in Ani's story and success. Overall, a cute, sweet read that was tons of fun.

Annika Dev , creator and CEO of the Make Up app, is a firm believer in love, romance, and fairy-tale endings. With the app, she hopes to make a positive difference in the world by giving people a second chance at love, hopefully helping them find their happily ever afters. Hudson Craft is (seemingly) her polar opposite: flashy, shallow, and detached. His app, Break Up, is used for quick, impersonal breakups. When Hudson moves into the office next door, the tension between the two of them ramps up–in more ways than one.

Romance novel and romcoms can be wildly hit or miss for me. Initially, I was slow to get into the story and worried that this would, unfortunately, be another miss. After the first chapter or two, though, I quickly became invested in Annika's story. I found the rivals to lovers trope to be well done, with a delicious (and often amusing) amount of tension between the two characters. At the same time, the romance developed at a decent pace, and I liked that we were able to get to know both characters better over the course of the story. Some romance novels are too surface-level and don't provide enough to get me to really root for the characters as a couple. Not so for this book!

In addition to the romance plot, I loved Annika's friendship with June. Of course, I appreciated them as strong, female characters with drive, passion, and dedication when it came to their career goals, but their supportive friendship also added to my enjoyment of the book. On top of that, I really appreciated how the novel explored more serious topics, like grief, self-perception, and the dynamic between Annika and her father. Overall, this was such a joyful, fun, and cute book. I did think the ending felt a bit abrupt, but it was a satisfying conclusion to a sugary-sweet read nonetheless.

Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

this book had all the parts of a good rom com, and it was a quick and cute read. the resolution was a bit too fast and oversimplified for my liking, but i really enjoyed june and annika’s friendship, and i wish june and ziggy got more page time because i feel like they’re super cute together.

This was an alright read. I found that the writing was slightly predictable and it was hard to truly stay focused on the plot. The shift from being enemies to being lovers was a bit rushed and it was almost too unbelievable. I might take a chance on another book from this author. I consider this one a bust for me.

My rom-com kick continues with Sandhya Menon’s adult debut under her pen name–Lily Menon–and it didn’t disappoint. It’s Silicon Valley tech life meets strong women and enemies to lovers romance with a nice, slow burn and a happy ending. My only concern is that this is like the sixth book I know of about “rival app creators” and while I know they probably all sold the same month or something, I hope this book can stand out!
Annika Dev is the CEO and creative visionary behind Make Up, an in-works app that she thinks will revolutionize the way people talk to each other and help them heal wounds that might break them apart and teach them a better way to communicate in their relationship. The only problem is…she’s a bit behind schedule, she’s running out of money, and the rent is due…a lot of it. So she’s SUPER excited to find out her rival–the hit app Break Up which is like an Uber courier serving for dumping your SO–is moving in next door. Did we mention Break Up’s super hot CEO who Annika spent a week hooking up with the previous summer at a tech thing in Las Vegas? I didn’t? Oops. Well, there’s that, and there’s an EPIC pitch looming, and of course, the two apps will have to go head to head for those angel investors as they go head to head to find out what the heck is going on between them.
This is part enemies-to-lovers romance, part heartfelt family story, part women-in-tech prose, and all fun. Like I mentioned above, I hope it can stand out in a world of “rival app creator” romances, but I think Menon comes with a lot of trust for her readers, and while this does have a sex scene, I don’t think it’s too raunchy and older YA readers will enjoy it as well–by that I mean older teens, not ladies in their 50s, lol. They, of course, can handle it. The sex is way less explicit than some of the stuff in certain fantasy novels, if you know what I mean. This feels like the grown-up version of When Dimple Met Rishi in the best ways.
I really enjoyed Annika’s personality, her relationship with her Dad, and her fire and ambition. Hudson was swoony, obviously, and I liked the way the book had tech in it but not being techy didn’t keep you from enjoying it. The pacing felt a little strange at the end–once the pitch contest started, but that’s just life sometimes.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I’m excited to read more from Menon in all the genres!

This was Menons first book in the adult romance world and she did not disappoint!
The girl power and motivation we see through Annika was wonderful! Sometimes I wanted to strangle her or cover my eyes for her because I was feeling the embarrassment for her! Hudson was such a great counter balance and the banter he brought to the story was superb.
I tell you this book made me cringe for them, laugh, sob and more! I can't wait to see what she comes up with this

Cute and funny but had the potential to be better. The writing was good, but it became too predictable and didn't have enough of a zing. Still a good book and a fun read through.

I really liked the writing but the plot just fell flat for me. I’m going to be honest and say that I wasn’t really in the mood for a romance and I think that made me feel this way because I really think the entire story was well-thought out and unique.

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This book is by an author who has published YA but her 1st adult romance. Annika Dev is the CEO of a small start up company called Make Up with her best friend, June Stewart, a developer. Their app is designed to help couples stay together and work out their communication difficulties. Annika had a week long fling with Hudson Craft, the CEO of Break Up the previous summer. Somehow Hudson was able to secure investors and make his app popular and successful in less than a year, but his inspiration behind the idea is a mystery. There is some friendly and not so friendly competition between the two. Annika needs an investor to come through after grant money she won is drying up. She doesn't want to ask help from her dad, a successful anesthesiologist who wanted his daughter to go to medical school. The book is surface deep but enjoyable and a good distraction this past Election *Week*. I pictured Hudson as a Hemsworth brother . A sweet, tidy HEA.